Players who regularly play gaming machines quickly tire of particular games and therefore it is necessary for manufacturers of these machines to develop innovative game features which add interest to the games. In so doing, it is hoped to keep players amused and therefore willing to continue playing the game as well as to attract new players.
Also, with the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market, there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines, the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games and/or game features which are popular with the players as a mechanism for improving sales, retaining customers and attracting new customers.
One particular feature which has generated increased interest in gaming machines is the provision of bonus games also known as feature; games. These games are often provided as a series of “free” games which are triggered by the appearance of a particular indicia combination in the underlying game played on the gaming machine. However, for many bonus games, a player is required to make an ante-bet in order to be eligible to enter the bonus feature and this acts as a disincentive for players playing bonus games. For example Australian patent No 11194/01 entitled “Gaming machine with eligibility for participation in features” is one such game which requires a player to make an ante-bet prior to participating in a bonus game. Australian application No 65501/00 “Gaming machine with buy feature games”, discloses another gaming machine game which requires feature games to be bought by the player.
The requirement for players to buy bonus games also has the disadvantage that it may make the calculation of the probabilities of winning more complicated.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.